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New refugee program aims to bring more Syrian relatives to Canada

The program connects those who can’t afford private sponsorship with people who can.

Immigration Minister John McCallum says the government chooses the most vulnerable people for the refugee program, so naturally they are the ones who find it most difficult to integrate when they arrive here. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS File Photo)

By Stephanie LevitzThe Canadian Press

Wed., Feb. 3, 2016

OTTAWA—Every time Ottawa’s refugee settlement community gets together, Syrians show up seeking help to get family members out of their home country or one of the countries nearby that are now home to more than four million Syrian refugees, says a resettlement worker.

But many can’t afford private sponsorship, so a new program designed to connect them directly with people who can is welcome, said Donald Smith, who runs the refugee working group for the Anglican diocese of Ottawa.

“It’s huge,” he said of the demand. “We get people walking in off the street, emails and phone calls every day of people saying, please help me sponsor my family.”

Since the program opened last week, 157 Syrian families have signed up, though only five sponsorship groups have joined. That’s an imbalance the government hopes to change and not just to capitalize on the outpouring of support from Canadians.

Research has shown that refugees with private sponsors generally get jobs and come off social assistance faster than those who come through the government-assisted program.

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New data obtained by The Canadian Press gives some insight as to why: a preliminary review of government-assisted Syrian refugees who’ve landed in Canada since November show they have lower education levels and job skills and the vast majority speak neither English nor French when compared to those with private sponsors.

But that’s the whole point of the exercise, said Immigration Minister John McCallum.

“When we say we want to receive the most vulnerable, we don’t choose people with PhDs,” he said. “We choose the most vulnerable people who are given to us out of the UN lists, so naturally it will be little more difficult for them when they arrive here to integrate.”

The government-assisted refugee program sees the federal government cover the entire cost of a refugee’s first year in the country, with the settlement services they need handled by agencies with federal contracts. Refugees are chosen through the UN.

Privately sponsored refugees, on the other hand, are greeted by a group of people who’ve signed an agreement to look after them, often choosing them personally through aid agencies.

The connection makes a difference, said Smith.

“In that first year, the private sponsorship group is going to take very good care of that family and provide many, many more person hours in working with that group and that has got to be a help,” he said.

But the government also has to do its share, he said.

That’s why the Liberals are increasing space in a program that sees the government share the refugee costs with a private group, with that group handling most of the resettlement needs.

Smith said sponsors like it, in part because the paperwork is simpler and refugees arrive faster — sometimes in a matter of weeks — while regular private sponsorship can take months and require mounds of documents.

The blended program started in 2013 and is growing fast. So far this year it has brought in 2,300 people, compared with 1,534 for all of 2015. Its target for this year will be set in the upcoming immigration plan and McCallum called it the “wave of the future.”

Smith said that makes sense in part because the demand from Canadians to help Syrians doesn’t seem to be abating.

“I don’t think three or four months ago the government would have realized there is going to be this groundswell,” Smith said.

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